Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1887-05-26

mined at great personal inconvenience. to
alleviate its lot; how they had accordingly
taken the real king of the country, Ignosi,
who was languiShing in exile, by the hand,
and led him oyer the mountains; how they
| had seen the wickedneSS of Twala'S doingS,
and for sign to the wavering, and to save
the life of the girl. Foulata, had actually, by
the exercise Of their high magic, put out the
| sun, and slain the young fiend, Scragga; and
now they were prepared to stand by them.
and assist them to overthrow Twala, and set
up the rightful king, Ignosi, in his place.
He finished his discourse amidst murmur
IF appreciation, and then Ignosi stepped for
ward and began to speak. Having reiterat-
ed all that Infadoos, his uncle had said he
concluded powerful speech in these words
'Oh, chiefs, captains, soldiers, and people,
| We have heard my words. Now must We
make choice between me and him who sits
upon my throne, the uncle who killed his
brother, and hunted his brothers child forth
TO die in the cold and the night. That [ am
indeed the king, disappointing to the
chiefs-"can tell We, for they have seen the
snake about my middle. If were not the
| king would these white men be on my side,
with all their magic? Tremble, chiefs, cap
| tains, soldiers, and people! Is not the dark
1
confound Twala, and cover our flight, yet
before your eyes?'
alt is," answered the soldiers.
81 am the king; | say to ye L am the
king" went on Ignosi, drawing up his great
stature to its full, and lifting his broad
bladed battle-ax above his head. IF there
| be any man among We who says that it is not
so, let him stand forth and / viii tight him
| L.; J-I, IOo +o1-
| 1 tell we true Let him stand forth, | say;'
and he shook the great AK till it flashed in
| the sunlight.
AS nobody seemed inclined to respond to
this heroic version of ''DiIly, billy, come
and be killed." our late henchman proceed
ed with his address.
Il am indeed the king, and if We do stand
by my side in the BATTLE if | win the day, We
shall go with me to victory and honor. /
will give we oxen and wives, and We shall
take place Of all the regiments; and if We
fall L will fall with We.
"And, behold, this promise do [ give We,
that when L sit upon the seat of my faith er's,
bloodshed shall cease in the land Mo lon
| ger snail We cry for justice to find slaughter,
no longer shall the witchfinder hunt We out
so that We be slain without cause No man
shall die save him who Offendeth against the
laws. The eating up of your kraals shall
cease; each shall sleep secure in his own hut
and fear not, and justice shall walk blind
throughout the land. Have We chosen,
chiefs, captains soldiers, and people%'
1--WE have chosen, o king!' came back the
answer
lit is we'll. Turn your heads and see how
Twala's messengers go forth from the great
town, east and west, and north and south, tc
gather mighty army to Stay me and We, and
these my friends and my protectors To-
morrow, or perchance the next day, will he
come with all who are faithful to him. Then
shall [ see the man who is indeed my man,
the man, who fears not to die for his cause; ;
and | tell We he shall not be forgotten in the
time of spoil. have spoken, o chiefs, cap.
.tains, soldiers, and people! Now go to yout
,huts and make ready for war"
There was q pause, and then one of the
chiefs lifted his hand, and out rolled the
royal salute, ''Koom." 1t was sign that
the regiments accepted Ignosi as their king.
Then they marched off in battalions.
Half an hour afterward we held a council
of war, at which all the commanders of the
regiments were present 1t was evident to us
that before very long we should be attacked
point of vantage on the hill we could see
troops mastering, and messengers going
forth from Loo in every direction, doubtless
to summon regiments to the kings assistance.
We had on our side about twenty thousand
men, composed of seven Of the best regi-
mentS of the country. Twala had, so Infa-
docs and the chiefs calculated, at least thir.
ty to thirty-five thousand on whom he could
rely at present assembled in Loo and they
thought that by midday on the morrow he
would be able to gather another five thou
sand or more to his aid. 1t was of course,
possible that some of his troops would desert
and come over to us, but it was not a cOntin-
gency that could be reckOned on. Mean
WHILE it was clear that active preparations
were being made to Subdue us. Already
strong bodies of armed men were patrolllng
round and round the foot of the hill, and
there were other signs of a coming attack.
InfadeOs and the chiefs, however, were of
opinion that no attack would be made that
night, which would be devoted to preparation
and to the removal by every possible means
of the moral effect produced upon the minds
of the Soldiery by the supposed magical
darkening of the sun The attack would be
on the morrow, they said, and they proved
to be right.
meanwhile, we SET 10 WORK 10 strengthen
the position as much as possible. Nearly the
entire force was turned out, and in the two
hours which yet remained to shutdown Won
derS were done. The paths up the hill,
which was rather santorium than a fort
ress, being used generally as the camping
place of regiments suffering from recent
service in unhealthy portions of the country,
were carefully blocked with masses of
stones, and every other possible approach
was made as impregnable as time would
allow. Piles of powders were collected at
various spots to be rolled down upon an adj
vancing enemy, stations were appointed to
different regiments, and every other prepare
ton which our joint ingenuity could suggest
was taken.
Just before shutdown we perceived small
company of men advancing toward us from
the direction of Loo, one of whom bore a
palm-leaf in his hand as sign that he came
! as a herald.
AS he came lgnosi, Infadoos, one or two
| chiefs, and ourselves went down to the foot
| of the mountain to meet him. He was a gal
| lant-looking fellow, with the regulation
| leopard-skin cloak.
"Greetingr he cried, as he came near;